Her god was looking down into the garden and smiling
She and Lenny were devoted to each other
This is number 45 of fifty pieces of poetry and prose written by Peter Limbrick as a monument to adults and children who have lived and died or are living now in inhuman situations. They are all inspired by real experience.
Garden
Her best time was sitting in the garden with Lenny on
a warm afternoon. Only a small garden with a patch
of grass and a short path to the tumbling greenhouse.
She and Lenny were devoted to each other, she took
great care of him. Lenny was her third child coming
after a gap of fifteen years. The older siblings had
moved away but stayed in touch. On a warm day she
would get her jobs done in the morning, promising
him they would go out into the garden after lunch.
Lenny’s lunch would be from the short list of things
he most liked, she would help him eat it with all care
and patience, a clean tea towel under his chin for
dribbles and bits that escaped his mouth.
Getting into the garden was a difficult manoeuvre
requiring two stages. There were steps and a corner
to negotiate, not easy at her age with a growing
young man in a wheelchair. She would push Lenny
out onto the grass and then go back into the kitchen
for his tray, drink and drawing things. Ever since
Lenny had been too small for a proper wheelchair he
had loved to draw. There were thick wax crayons
and tape to fix the paper to the tray. When each
piece was finished she looked for bits of green that
she would call a tree or a circle with lines coming
from it that she would call a man. Lenny liked this
approval of his efforts - all part of the afternoon’s
gentle pleasure. She loved this quiet time. It was an
escape. It was life-affirming. Her god was looking
down into the garden and smiling.
Most of the time, though, there was something to
worry about; his stomach upsets, the leg operation
he might need. The biggest worry was about what
would happen to Lenny when she died. This was too
big and frightening to talk about with anyone. Kind
people had tried to discuss it, suggesting Lenny
could start going to some sort of home on occasions so
that, when the worst came to the worst, he would
have somewhere familiar to go, somewhere with
people who knew him.
This idea was always rejected. No one could ever
look after her son as well as she could. This was her
job and hers alone. The idea of him going away was
unthinkable. Years later Lenny was able to draw a
man with a head, body, two sticks for arms and two
for legs. But this was after she had died.
The other 49 pieces can be seen here:
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 1 to 10)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 11 to 20)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 21 to 30)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 31 to 40)
In Mind - a written monument to all people with intellectual disability. (Items 41 to 50)
